Gordon's Dawn

by Hazel Gower

  “Sure.” Gordon winked and turned to start making what she had ordered.

  She stared at his arse as he bent down and then reached up. Using the bar to lift herself up, Dawn almost went over watching him work. Hands latched onto her waist from behind, and as she turned, she groaned at the sight of the hot guy who had helped her. He had one arm a full sleeve, and the other was close. She could see more tattoos covered his chest, his dark shaggy hair came to his shoulders, and his green eyes were alight with amusement. Usually, this gorgeous specimen of maleness in front of her was totally her type, but Gordon had turned her immune. She sighed when after a moment she recognized him from coming into her work at Razor tattoo shop.

  “Hey, honey, you don’t need to climb over the bar to get the bartenders attention. I’ll gladly help.” He smirked. “I’ve seen you before. You work at Razor, right?” He leaned down close to her ear. One of his hands let go of her, and he held it out, his other hand still on her waist came around her back, and he ran his fingers up and down before slipping to palm her arse.

  Momentarily frozen, she stared up at the guy. He really was hot. She should be drooling, but right now, her body wasn’t responding at all—not how it had moments before when she’d been staring at Gordon’s arse. Dawn stared at his hand for a second before she took it and shook quickly, and then let it go. “Yes, I work at Razor. I’m Dawn.”

  “I’m Maverick.”

  Argh, even his name screamed dark, brooding, and just her type. “Hi, Maverick. Um, thanks for the help, but I got Gordo…er, the bartender’s attention. He was just making—”

  Glasses slamming down behind her had Dawn turning and staring up at a glaring Gordon. She went to hand over the fifty she’d been clenching, but Maverick grabbed her hand stopping her and handed the money over with his other hand.

  Gordon’s eyes were narrowed slits, and his lips thinned so much they were almost nonexistent. His back was straight, and an air of menace she had never seen or felt radiated from him.

  Nervous, she nibbled on her bottom lip as her stomach did weird flip-flops, and she eased out from the cage of Maverick and stumbled back. “Um… thanks,” she mumbled to Maverick. She then grabbed the drink tray and rushed back to her friends.

  “Oh, my God, Dawn. I could feel the heat from all that from way over here,” Amber rushed out as soon as Dawn sat the drink tray on the table. “I think you have admirers.”

  “Shut it, Amber.” Dawn resisted the urge to look back at Gordon, her stomach still did flips, and she felt unsettled. Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm her heating body. Gordon may have looked menacing, but Dawn had never been so turned on in her life. Damn, it was getting harder and harder to fight her attraction to Gordon. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to throw herself at him.

  ****

  “Hot little thing, isn’t she?” the idiot in front of him who’d just had his damn hands on Dawn said. “I’ve been trying to get her attention for some time.”

  Gritting his teeth, he forced out. “What’ll it be?”

  “Three Bundaberg and cokes and a coke, mate.”

  Gordon wasn’t this guy’s fuckin’ mate. He nodded and grabbed the cans, turned back to the bar and poured the coke. Gordon clenched his fist and released as he tried to get his anger under control. He was frustrated and hot as hell. When he’d seen Dawn, his body had an instant reaction, coming alive with lust and need stronger than ever. He’d noticed Dawn as soon as she’d walked in. She was wearing a black corset with silver embroidery and black above the knee almost tutu like skirt with black stockings and knee high black boots. All she needed was bloody wings, and she was his goddamn fantasy sprite.

  “Could you also do another of what she just ordered? The mates and I have been watching Dawn and her friends since she came in.”

  That was it, he snapped. “No. She’s taken.” Gordon had had it. He didn’t need this. He didn’t need this job, He didn’t need to listen to this fuckwit talk about Dawn, and he certainly wasn’t going to watch the idiot attempt to have Gordon’s woman. Turning from the fuckwit, ignoring him, Gordon went over to the bar manager. “I quit. I need to go now before I do something that will cause trouble.” Gordon darted his gaze to the guy yelling at him and then to Dawn.

  The manager seemed shocked, followed his gaze, and then nodded. “Okay, but you do know this won’t make any good references you may need in the future.” Gordon nodded. He really didn’t care. He’d never need a reference from this job. “Make sure you leave your keys to your locker at the front desk and come in tomorrow with a formal letter.”

  “Fine,” he grumbled and went to the staff room. He needed to get out of there before he did something stupid. He’d never been a jealous man before, but seeing that guy’s hands on Dawn had made him crazy. He needed to gather himself. Going to his locker, he unlocked it and took his work shirt off and got out of his locker another, yanking it on as he left the staff room and went to what he wanted.

  Finding Dawn sitting with the guy and his friends had Gordon’s blood boiling. Storming over to them, he grabbed Dawn from her chair and gathered her against him. She was so enthralling with her raven black hair down, her full lips ruby red, and her long lashes hiding her big brown eyes. Lifting her up, he leaned down and captured her surprised lips to his own. His tongue slipped into her open mouth, and he relaxed, happy when she responded instantly bringing her hands up and wrapping them around his neck. His hands slid from her back down to cup her arse, and he got lost in her taste, scent, and body forgetting for a moment where they were. When the music quieted for a second and sanity slipped back, he heard her friend laughing as he came to his senses. What the hell was he doing? This was Dawn, not one of the nobody women he was usually with. Dawn was better. She didn’t deserve to be treated how he treated other woman, although having said that, he hadn’t had this with anyone else.

  Placing her back down, he gazed down at her. “See you at home.” Dawn blinked up at him, and he felt smugness wash over him at her dazed look.

  Walking away, he fought himself not to turn around and look at Dawn. He knew if he did, he wouldn’t leave. Dawn was out with her friends, and she didn’t know what he wanted. He’d tell her though. He had to figure it out first.

  ****

  All week, Gordon had been acting strange, well, stranger than usual. He’d kissed her at the club and hadn’t said a word about it or done anything else. It was driving her crazy, and Dawn didn’t know how long she could handle it without cracking and either yelling at him for confusing her or just jumping on him and pretty much raping him.

  Gordon was touching her more than usual, and she was hot and turned on all the time. Like now, they were sitting in a café that overlooked the beach, and Gordon sat across from her and his feet kept brushing hers. That small contact shot a tingling up her legs and straight to her core. He’d insisted when they went out that she wore her hair down, and he hadn’t stopped touching it, and every time, shivers of need coursed through her. She could handle the contact at home because one, she wasn’t on display to others and two, she was in her own place, her comfort zone. This was a place she could always find something to distract herself, and three—well, one and two were enough. Every time he touched her, she kept replaying the kiss at the club and slowly, she was going crazy.

  “Is black your favorite color? Is that why you wear so much of it? Would you consider wearing purple or a deep rich red?” Gordon’s gaze bore into hers as he waited for her answer.

  “No, black isn’t. Blue is my favorite color, and sure, if I found clothes in purple and red I liked, I’d wear them.” Wait, blue wasn’t her favorite. No, it was dark purple. Damn, his eyes.

  “Blue, I’ve never seen you wear blue.”

  Ha, when did he start taking notice of what she wore? He only came to see her for her food and cable, or so she continued to convince herself. “I have clothes that are blue.” Great, now she’d have to go buy some new clothes in blue. Maybe a dress? Amber
had been wearing some really nice ones at work, and she’d told her the brand had larger sizes.

  “Have you ever thought of expanding your business to America?”

  Argh, why was asking these questions? “Not really. I suppose if it really took off, I would.” He was full of questions today, and it was really unnerving her.

  “You’re really good with Dillan. Have you ever thought about having a child of your own? I don’t know, like now or in a year or so?”

  Having just taken a sip of milkshake, she almost sputtered it out. “Why would you ask me that? I don’t even have a boyfriend, let alone married and ready for a child.”

  “So you’re saying you want to be married before you have kids?”

  “Yes. Eh, what’s this about? Oh, God, have you knocked one of your play things up?” Her whole body tensed and she said a mini pray that he hadn’t. Her heart didn’t need breaking right now.

  “What? No. I was just curious if you wanted children. I, um… You’re so good with your nephew, Dilan.”

  Letting out a deep breath, she relaxed back into her seat. “Of course, I want children. I just… Well, I don’t want to make the mistake my sister did. Poor Dilan doesn’t have a father. When Destiny told the guy, he told her to get rid of him, and he didn’t want a kid. I don’t want to chance having that happen to me. I want to be married. I want to know the guy I’m with wants children. I want to know he’d be stable and a good father.”

  “I want kids. I’m ready now.”

  Holy crap, what was going on? This was not what they did. They didn’t go out. They didn’t talk about things like this. Gordon came over, he ate her food, they chatted about their day, he told her about the women he was seeing, and they watched TV together. That was all they did. No matter how much she dreamed and wished, nothing had changed since she realized she was starting to have feelings for him. The kiss flashed before her, and she fidgeted in her seat as heat pooled between her legs.

  This was not good. If she stayed right now, she would get her heart broken. Getting up, she grabbed her bag and stumbled back. “Speaking of my nephew, I need to go. I’ll see you later, maybe.” Practically running out of the café, she got in her car and drove straight to her sister’s flat and let herself in.

  Destiny was on the floor with Dilan in their lounge room playing with Legos. “Hey, Dawn.”

  “Heya, Destiny, Dilan. What ya building?”

  “A Star Wars Ewok village,” Dilan said as he jumped up and down with excitement.

  “Cool.” Plonking down next to Destiny, Dawn threw her arms around her.

  “What’s up?” Destiny knew her so well Dawn didn’t need to say anything for her to know something was up. Destiny patted her back. She pulled me up and nodded to the balcony before focusing on Dilan. “Baby, you keep building. I’m just going to have an adult talk with Aunty Dawn.”

  “Okay, Mummy.”

  As soon as they sat down, Dawn spilled her guts telling Destiny everything. Her mouth spewed even the dreams she’d been having about Gordon. When she was done, she’d eaten a whole packet of Tim Tams and had two hot chocolates.

  “I don’t see what the problem is. I think you should go for it.”

  Dawn rolled her eyes. It was so Destiny to take a chance. “Destiny, he’s a slut. He’s almost forty, still works as a bartender, can’t have a relationship with a woman longer than a couple of months, and he can’t cook for himself. He isn’t the kind of guy I want.”

  “Oh, yeah? By what you told me, you want him. You just don’t want to want him.” Destiny chuckled.

  Dawn groaned because she hated it when Destiney was right. “I hate you.”

  “No, you don’t.” Destiny hugged her, and Dawn clutched her tightly back. “Not everyone is like Dilan’s father or our parents. I say try something with him. You love him. Don’t let that slip away. What could it hurt?

  Her, she thought. It could hurt her.

  ****

  Gordon had wanted to go straight to Dawn’s house when he’d heard her car pull into her garage. He’d been sitting in his backyard and working out in his gym, trying to decide what he should do, and if he was willing to do what he now wanted to do. Argh, he’d never been so indecisive. He was always sure of what he wanted, but Dawn had him tangled in knots. He worked himself hard until all his muscles ached. Tired, he’d showered and finally did what he wanted and let himself into her house. She was in her usual spot at her computer, but Gordon could tell something was on her mind because, after watching her for a good ten minutes, she hadn’t done a thing.

  Going to her, he picked her up off her chair ignoring her squeak of surprise, carried her to the sofa, and sat. “What’s up?”

  Dawn stared up at him with her eyes filled with uncertainty. Crap. Had he put that there? He really needed to get his shit together and figure out what he needed and wanted, and then make sure he stuck with it.

  “You,” she said with a huff after a good ten minutes of staring at him.

  “What do you mean me? I’m the same.”

  “Ha, you are not. You’ve been acting weird all week.” Her forehead wrinkled, and her lips trembled. “You haven’t been around as much and… the kiss… uh… when you are around, you’re acting strange.” She sniffled. “If you don’t want to be my friend anymore… Look, I understand if you’ve had enough of me.”

  Dawn hadn’t gotten out of his embrace, and Gordon enjoyed the simple contact. He had been acting strange but only because he’d been trying to figure things out. He didn’t want to make any more mistakes.

  “I’m sorry. And, of course, I’m still your friend. I just have a lot on my mind. Look, why don’t you relax while I order pizza, and we’ll sit and talk, and then watch some movies.”

  The smile that spread over her face was breathtaking, and he refrained from sighing at the loss of her warmth when she eased off him. She then picked up the remote from the coffee table and got comfortable on the sofa. As he got up and went over to her computer to order the food, he berated himself for being such an idiot. For not seeing the woman who had become not only one of his best friends, but what he’d been searching for all along.

  ****

  Gordon came back, and they sat together on her sofa watching TV until the pizza came. Once the food arrived, they each grabbed a piece of pizza, and she watched Gordon devoured slice after slice, taking big bites and barely chewing whilst staring blankly at the TV like he was deep in thought. Once he was down to his last slice, he picked it up and almost shoved the whole thing in to finish it quickly. Once finished, he wiped his face with a napkin and mumbled, “I’m going back for my birthday.”

  “What?” Her heart felt like it was about to explode. Surely, he wasn’t talking about going back to America.

  His blue eyes studied her, and she knew that look. It was the look her parents gave her when they were gauging what they could safely say before she got upset because they were going to move again. It was the look that said I told you that you could have the toy, but now we can’t afford it and just don’t know how to tell you. Unease flooded her.

  Gordon cleared his voice. “A friend is throwing me a huge fortieth. My parents want to see me, too. I miss…” He looked around the room then his gaze came back to rest on her. “Come.”

  “Hah, what?”

  “Come with me.”

  “I can’t go to America.”

  “Why not?”

  “Well, we… I… I don’t have a passport.” Dawn was so tempted, but she couldn’t just pack up and leave. Dawn wasn’t like her parents, and leaving the country with barely any notice was something they would do.

  Gordon’s gaze narrowed and she knew she was getting to him when the corner of his left eye twitched. “If you had one, would you come?” He ran his fingers through his hair, and she clenched her fist because she was dying to do the same thing with her own fingers to him. “I want you there for my birthday. You’ve become a close friend who I want to share this with. Come on,
it’ll be fun. It’s a party in Vegas.” Wow, Vegas. Who didn’t want to at least go there once in their life? Gordon must have seen something on her face because he grinned. “I have some, uh, savings. I’ll pay for you.”

  Crap, now how did she get out of that. She could go. It would only be a holiday. She thought about her savings and knew she had just enough if she watched herself and didn’t go wild over there. The problem would be work. She didn’t want to leave them in a lurch. “Okay, I’ll go if I can get time off from the tattoo shop and have my passport.”

  The smile that spread over Gordon’s face had her heart beating faster and her stomach fluttering. “Great, I’ll book our plane tickets.”

  “Wait to see if I can get time off and a passport in time first.” Standing up, she cleaned up the mess from dinner. Gordon didn’t say anything, and Dawn had a feeling he was going to do what he wanted.

  ****

  Gordon didn’t want to move. Dawn was asleep on him, and her sweet baked vanilla scent surrounded him. Her hair was in its usual messy bun, and she wasn’t wearing anything remotely sexy, but damn if he didn’t spend ninety-nine percent of his time telling his dick to stay down.

  The problem he’d been fighting with himself these last few days was she was only twenty-two, and he’s less than two months away from turning forty. Could he tie her to someone his age? He’d tried to find other women, and they just weren’t cutting it. They had wife potential, but the sprite in his embrace was the only female he’d been able to think of for months now, and he couldn’t—didn’t want to deny it anymore. It had gotten so bad that he even woke up thinking of her. Tracy had thought he was being considerate not sleeping with her, but the thing was, he just couldn’t. He was done fighting.

  Gordon had almost five weeks to give him and Dawn a try before he went back to America and his old job. He didn’t lie when he said he wanted her to come to Vegas. They had become friends, and he hoped if things didn’t work how he wanted that they could still be friends. Dawn was nothing like what he envisioned for a wife. She was young, quiet, and liked terrible music. She looked like a gothic sprite with her small height, jet black hair, white skin, ruby red lips, black nail polish, dark clothes, and tattoos. But, damn, if she didn’t do it for him. Dawn had the most important things he wanted. She loved her family fiercely; she was loyal, caring, and great with children. She also had major bonuses—a great sense of humor, an amazing laugh, and she was the best cook. Ha. Who was he kidding? When he put it all like that, she was more perfect than he thought, and there shouldn’t be doubt they would work.